The present application describes systems and techniques relating to data processing for commercial transactions.
Dynamic electronic commerce (e-commerce) systems, such as online auction sites, allow for efficient buying and selling of goods and services. The systems are efficient both because they are able to reach a wide variety of geographically diverse participants, and because they allow the characteristics of the transactions to change over time (e.g., the bid amount changes to reflect the price a participant is willing to pay). In contrast, a static e-commerce system (such as a web site advertising products for sale at particular prices) may be less efficient, since purchasers are faced with a “take it or leave it” proposition.
Dynamic e-commerce systems may be particularly beneficial for purchasing agents who routinely enter into contracts for goods and services. For example, a particular company may produce a product for the consumer market that is manufactured using a number of different component parts. The company's purchasing department needs to purchase the component parts from reliable suppliers at the best prices. Dynamic e-commerce systems may allow the company to obtain bids from a number of suppliers, and to choose the best supplier based on the bid amount and/or other parameters. The systems may also simplify record-keeping, since the commercial transaction data is exchanged electronically.
One type of dynamic system allows users (such as purchasing agents) to create data objects including data related to one or more desired commercial transactions. The data objects may be referred to as “opportunities,” and the associated data may be referred to as opportunity data. A purchasing agent may create the opportunity by accessing the system and entering opportunity data via a user interface generated by the dynamic system. For example, if a purchasing agent wished to enter into a transaction to obtain 1,000 stepper motors, the purchasing agent could access the dynamic system and create an “opportunity” including data related to the desired purchase.
A standard set of attributes may be associated with each opportunity created using the dynamic system. These standard or “static” attributes may include an opportunity name, an opportunity start date, an opportunity classification, a bid amount and the like. Data corresponding to each attribute (e.g., a bid amount of $100 corresponding to the static attribute “bid amount”) may be provided to the dynamic system by a user interacting with the dynamic system via a user interface or may be generated automatically by the system. For additional flexibility, a dynamic system may allow users or systems administrators (persons with the ability to modify the characteristics of the dynamic system itself) with the capability of creating or selecting a non-standard attribute to be associated with some opportunities. Non-standard attributes that may be associated with an opportunity are referred to as “dynamic attributes.”
A dynamic system may allow a supplier to view opportunity data and to respond to the opportunity. For example, opportunity data may be emailed to potential suppliers, may be published on a public portal, or may be accessed by a supplier via one or more user interfaces presented to a supplier accessing the dynamic system. To respond to the opportunity (i.e., to submit response data corresponding to opportunity attributes such as a bid amount), the user may enter the response data via one or more user interfaces generated by the dynamic system as part of a response template for the opportunity.
A number of responses may be received for a particular opportunity. In a simple case, the responses may be ranked in order of the bid amount, and a winner determined based on the bid amount. In more complex cases, significant analysis may be desired to ascertain the “best” response to a particular opportunity and to designate a winner.